The operational speed of integrated circuits (ICs) continues to increase with modern ICs routinely operating in the radio frequency (RF) range. The RF operational frequency range of ICs makes implementation of passive circuit elements such as inductors desirable. The formation of high quality inductors within ICs, however, has been problematic.
For example, one technique for forming inductors within an IC relates to the implementation of spiral inductors. A spiral inductor can be formed using a metallization layer of the IC. A spiral inductor generally is characterized by concentric coils configured in a same plane as the metallization layer use to implement the inductor. Spiral inductors typically suffer from a variety of disadvantages. These disadvantages can include, but are not limited to, low quality factor, consumption of significant area on the IC, and high vulnerability to noise coupling induced by surrounding circuit elements within the IC.